This invention relates to communications devices, and is of particular applicability to routers of the kind used in a domestic or small business installation to connect one or more user terminals to an external data network and to each other. A typical router (also known as a “hub”) includes a modem to provide an interface with the external network, communications connections to communicate with one or more user terminals, and a switching means to route data traffic between the various connections. The communications connections may include either or both of wired connections, for example Ethernet, and wireless, for example “WiFi” or IEEE 802.11.
Many routers with a wireless capability have the ability to partition their operation so that any terminal within wireless range can be granted limited “public” access, but certain authorised user terminals are given greater access privileges—for example allowing them access to data stored on another terminal, or simply giving precedence on bandwidth allocation.
Computers and communications equipment are designed to be as simple to operate as possible but the underlying design can be extremely complex.
A typical architecture is illustrated in FIG. 1. This is a typical FTTC (Fibre to the cabinet) connection, where a telephone line (47) is directly connected to a VDSL (very high bitrate digital subscriber loop) modem [modulator/demodulator] (6). The modem input side is plugged into the phone line and the output port to a local area network (LAN) through an ethernet connection 43. The modem 6 establishes an ‘audio carrier’ connection over the copper telephone line to a DSLAM [modulator/demodulator] (7) which is connected via fibre optic to the backbone which routes the Internet 8. The DSLAM 7 may be co-located with the exchange 48, or it may be in a cabinet at some intermediate location nearer the customer premises where a fibre connection terminates.
The LAN port connector of the modem 6 is plugged into a router 2. Finally customers establish connection between terminal devices (3, 13 etc) to the internet 8 either by wireless connection to the hub 2, or by plugging a further connector into a spare LAN port on the hub 2.
Management of the various user devices remotely—from the service or network provider, is used for several purposes. The Broadband and Telephone lines can be managed remotely using back office systems to check telephone lines for power, signal noise, speed, etc. and ‘broadband up’ status. They can also initiate a re-train of the modem at higher frequencies if the signal to noise quality changes, etc, and also change broadband speed profiles.
The broadband link to the Modem can be managed remotely by the network operator, downloading management and software upgrades. The customer gateway can also be managed remotely by the service provider, including operation of wireless passwords, parental controls, etc.
The Home Hub can also be managed by the service provider remotely, including getting/setting data and configuration, as well as initiating software upgrades and the sending of a periodic report from hub to remote management platform of recent usage data.
Individual devices such as a so-called “set top box”, which converts digital signals into a format usable by a conventional analogue television set, can be managed remotely to control the television service offered, including daily sending of previous day's ‘history’ data. The term “set top box” (STB) is now somewhat of a misnomer as the design of most modern flat screen television sets precludes placing any such device on top of them and the STB is normally placed beneath the television set itself.
The majority of domestic users have little understanding of how to investigate or correct any apparent faults which may develop in such a system. In many cases the actual solution may be relatively straightforward, but diagnosis is difficult or impossible without guidance. Because of the complexity of the equipment, users are wary of trying to rectify the situation for fear of making matters worse.
A further difficulty is that many routers have a very limited user interface, often consisting only of a few indicator lights and one or two switches. Moreover, the user is likely to be using one of the terminals connected to the router, rather than the router itself, and may not realise that it is some item of equipment other than the one they are operating directly which requires attention.
Many network and equipment providers offer helplines to provide assistance in such circumstances. These may be “online” web-based information, or a telephone helpline. In some online systems, the client device establishes a route out to the remote [server] management systems, and the server can then pull diagnostic information ‘on demand’ and can ‘set’ and ‘get’ information to and from the device to fix issues or change configuration settings. Such systems are described for example in United States Patent Applications US2002/087680 (Cerami) and US2007/036146 (Adkins). However, such online systems cannot be used if the problem relates to connection to the Internet, as they require the end point device to be correctly configured, wired and powered, and then directly connected to the remote management platform in order to help diagnose issues causing service problems—in other words there must be a well connected direct network path between the ‘client cpe’ and the ‘device management platform (server)’ for online support to work. If the problem is that there is no such path, online support cannot be used. In short, “online help” is not useful if the problem is how to restore an online connection.
If there is no ‘route’ back to the remote management server due to network or telephone line issues, there is also no way for a device to ‘broadcast’ its failure status to any other device which could help the customer to solve the problem or directly identify the source of the fault. The user could telephone a help desk or use a computer-based application ‘wizard’ to guide the customer manually through all the wiring, power, networking, access passwords, etc to get the service working and operational again, but this is very time consuming and frustrating for the customer.
Telephone helplines are more accessible as they do not rely on the internet connection, but they are expensive to operate; a cost which is either carried as an overhead by the supplier or recouped from the user by charging premium rates, which are unpopular with users. Where connection is available, facilities exists which allow the helpline operator to take remote control of the user's computer to rectify the problem. However, many users are understandably reluctant to grant remote access to their computers.
In many circumstances the helpline operator has no access to the user's installation, in particular if the connection to the network has been lost, and therefore cannot directly diagnose the problem. He can only talk the user through the steps he must take himself to make a diagnosis. Furthermore, some fault conditions involve failure of the telephone connection as well as the Internet, making even this approach impossible.
Consider for example the following three fault scenarios.
In the first scenario the user has experienced complete loss of Internet and telephone service. This could occur, for example, if the telephone line or power is unplugged from the modem, terminating the internet connection. The network operator cannot see any health indicators of the modem or the service and cannot help the customer automatically, and there is no way to tell the customer what has gone wrong.
In the second scenario there is loss of Internet, but not telephony. This can occur if the ethernet cable or power connecting the VDSL modem to the Home hub is unplugged from the home gateway. In this scenario the network operator can detect the telephone line is operational and the broadband service is ‘up’ but cannot see that the gateway is operational. Unless the network operators actively inform service providers when the status of a customer's LAN port changes in the customer home (goes up/down indicating the wifi hub has been plugged/unplugged), the service provider (SP) has no way of knowing the line status so that it can inform the customer where the fault is.
In the third scenario, the customer is experiencing a slow speed (low bandwidth) on his connection. This can be caused because of congestion, but can also be caused by the customer having plugged the telephone line (incorrectly) into the wrong connection on the hub, as many such hubs are fitted with separate connections to accommodate different legacy systems. In particular the user may have connected to a legacy copper system (e.g. ADSL2) when a faster VDSL2 connection is available. The service provider cannot detect this.
The above scenarios illustrate the failings of a pure client/server model for diagnosis or troubleshooting of customer home issues. The traditional models cannot help the customer even when the devices in the local network can individually diagnose their own faults, but cannot transmit those fault codes back to the management systems because of loss of connection. In these cases it is nevertheless necessary to help the customer to pin-point issues quickly and efficiently, even if those devices have no way to let the customer know what is happening (i.e. no display screen or indicator lights). The present invention is directed to making fault diagnosis and rectification easier for the user to achieve without external assistance.
The present invention provides a diagnostic processor installed in a communications device for connection to the user side of a network termination, the diagnostic processor having a fault detection unit to detect one or more fault conditions on the user side of the network termination, a fault diagnosis unit responsive to the detection of a fault by identifying a cause for said fault conditions, a store of fault rectification instructions, the diagnosis unit being arranged to retrieve a fault rectification instruction from the store appropriate to the identified cause, and a transmitter to transmit the retrieved fault rectification instructions to a user interface.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method of providing fault rectification instructions to a user terminal in response to detection of a fault condition, in which on detection of a fault condition by a communications device on the user side of a network termination, a fault rectification instruction appropriate to the identified fault is retrieved from a store on the user side and transmitted to a user interface.
The destination terminal is preferably a user terminal connected to the router through a local area network, either wireless or fixed. This may be done in addition to the transmission of data relating to a fault to a remote server operated by the service provider over the data network connection, if such connection is available.
In one preferred arrangement, the instructions are sent to a user terminal in response to a request from the terminal for such instructions. Alternatively, they may be sent to any or all of the terminals currently connected to the router. Different instructions, or instructions in different formats, may be sent to different terminals dependent on the type of terminal, or on their access privileges.
This invention provides a process by which failure conditions can be propagated in an IP broadcast message forward into the home LAN environment (e.g. a Telephone line unplugged/plugged event) as well as conventional backward propagation to the network. Any device within the home environment can listen for broadcast messages and use them to build up a correct picture of what is going on. This allows devices with a screen, audio output, or other means to inform the customer, to help the customer to solve the fault or intelligently re-configure the network connection onto a failover network such as temporary use of another connection (e.g. automatic failover for the purposes of fault detection).
Several user devices may each be configured so as to be capable of accessing these additional broadcast messages. Security provisions may be included to allow devices with appropriate permissions to access encrypted private propagation messages and interrogate date models for ‘types of device’ like gateways, set top boxes or pc's, (without making the information available to open access devices which may also be connected to the same wireless hub) allowing a ‘network’ mesh to occur where all secure devices are meshed together and can share access permissions.
Providing the rectification instructions to the user terminal allows much more comprehensive, and comprehensible, information to be made available to the user than would be possible on the limited user interface provided on the router itself. It can also alert the user to a problem whilst he is still at the terminal, even if the router is in another room.
In one preferred arrangement, the diagnostic processor installed in the router is arranged to be downloadable to one or more user terminals. This reduces the traffic between the terminal and the router as only the initial fault condition needs to be reported to the terminals by the router. It also allows a terminal to perform a diagnosis even if the problem lies in the router itself, or the connection between the terminal and the router.
The rectification instructions provided to a user would typically take the form of a step-by-step troubleshooting guide, tailored to the nature of the detected fault. For example, if the external connection between the router and the network has been lost, the user would first be instructed to check whether the network cable is plugged into the router. This can include an illustration of a router of the same type (which is readily identifiable as the instruction is generated by the router itself), showing where the connection socket is to be found and how to plug in the cable. The instructions can be provided to the user in a form suitable to the terminal in question, for example an internet telephone could be provided with audio instructions, whilst a laptop computer could be provided with audio-visual instructions.